The Simpsons S 27 E 18 How Lisa Got Her Marge Back - TV Tropes

Lisa and Marge are having problems, so they take a weekend trip to Capital City to attend a performance of Bad News Bears: The Musical. Meanwhile, Bart teams up with Maggie to trick people, after he becomes frustrated that everyone expects his pranks.

Tropes:

• Anachronism Stew: When the Archie Comics characters appear, they mourn over Archie's death, who died in the 36th issue of Life With Archie: The Married Life. However, their appearance in this episode are as teenagers while in said storyline, they are all adults.
• The Atoner: Marge takes Lisa on a trip in Capital City to make up for hurting her.
• Big Brother Instinct: Bart punches Gerald for taking away Maggie's doll. Only to be punched by Gerald's older brother who gets punched by Homer who gets kicked by a kangaroo who hops off with Maggie's doll.
• Calling Parents by Their Name: Lisa starts calling Marge "Marjorie" due to finding out she hates jazz even when Lisa plays it. And when Marge feels upset by this, Homer is unperturbed; he even states that Bart calls him by his first name all the time, to which Marge points out that he does so out of disrespect any time Homer says or does something stupid.

  Marge: Marjorie...... she called me Marjorie.
  Homer: (annoyed) So? Bart calls me Homer.
  Marge: You know that's out of disrespect.

• Cash Lure: The first prank Bart tries to play in the episode.
• Cliché Storm: In-Universe, the musical versions of Paul Blart: Mall Cop, G.I. Jane and Men in Black are all about the protagonists finding love.
• Crossover: Bart is pranked by Archie Comics characters^note . This might also double as an indirect Actor Allusion, as Archie was once voiced by Andrew Rannells.
• Disowned Parent: The main conflict is Lisa disowning Marge after learning that her mother doesn't actually like her interests.
• Gone Horribly Right: Bart's pranks with Maggie go well until he pranks Homer by having Maggie pose as him. Unfortunately, it's so convincing that Homer nearly strangles Maggie in retaliation until Bart quickly intervenes. Homer then rightfully strangles Bart for this very reason of nearly tricking him into strangling his baby girl.
• Hell Is That Noise: Marge reveals that she can't enjoy Lisa's saxophone music, much to Lisa's dismay. When Lisa makes a bad noise, Marge compliments it from afar, making Lisa cry.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • "Remember, it’s not all about me, Andrew Rannells."
  • Bart stops Homer from strangling Maggie after a prank, to which Homer remarks he'd be a terrible parent for doing so.... and then proceeds to strangle Bart instead.
• Incredibly Lame Fun: Marge really enjoys the various stage musical adaptations, while Lisa struggles to even tolerate them. This ends up serving as a moment of empathy for Lisa, as she better understands that there is a difference between loving someone and loving everything they love.
• Nobody's That Dumb: Bart descends into a funk when his overplayed pranks start to get this reaction from every easy target in Springfield from Cletus Spuckler to Ralph Wiggum.
• Noodle Incident: The Riverdale gang mention that Archie died at some point and are shown to still miss him.
• Parental Hypocrisy: When Homer chides Lisa for yelling at Marge.

  Homer: Lisa, this is a family. You do not take that tone with another family member.

  Bart: You tell 'em, butterbean!

  Homer: Shut up, idiot!

• Perpetual Poverty: Realizing the bill and string are a prank, Kirk Van Houten is upset since he could use not only the money but also the string.
• Self-Deprecation: When Lisa complains about how Broadway makes musical versions of everything until it becomes old, a subtitle announces that the Simpsons' seventeenth season is still available on DVD.
• Special Guest: Andrew Rannells, as himself.
• Too Dumb to Live: Ralph Wiggum is dumb enough to mistake electric cables for candy and chew them and even he won't fall for Bart's pranks.
• Totem Pole Trench: Bart and Maggie use this trick to ride a roller coaster.
• Was Too Hard on Him: As Homer strangles Bart, he yells at him for trying to turn Maggie, a "sweet innocent baby", into a scoundrel like him. Of course, he realizes this sounds like he hates him, so he calms down and tells Bart that while he's a great kid, one of him is more than enough.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Andrew calls Lisa out for refusing to forgive her mother despite her attempts at reconciliation. Particularly because she's sharing a bunch of embarrassing secrets about the family to him, a complete stranger, while doing it.